Published on Tuesday January 31, 2006 .
Watching the visitor counter on my ebay auction is like watching the stock price of a company you are 100% invested in. It’s exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Today my auction ended with no new bids but 235 page views. That’s 128 more views than yesterday. I’m just hoping that my charitable auction will be just as successful as the 4 guys in australia who are auctioning a weekend of partying with them. Their current bid is $13,700.00 (AU) with over 26k page views.
No worries though. All I can do is keep up the guerrilla PR campaign and try to connect with the right people.
Published on Tuesday January 31, 2006 .
The second day of my eBay auction ended today with 108 page views, 10 bids and an auction price of $40.
I want to thank all of my friends for supporting this crazy idea. I spent most of the day doing guerilla PR sending the press release to the newswires and also sending copies to individuals at different media outlets and personal blogs.
I also want to remind bidders that if you have a legitmate project you would like me to mention here please email me after your bid and let me know so I can post the details.
There are still 8 days left in the auction. Within this time I’m hoping to make a contact with someone who has the power to put me on a show or project.
BTW I had a Toyota commercial audition this afternoon. It’s the first audition for the new year. It went pretty well. Nothing special really.
But the big news is the progress I’m making in scene study class. I feel like I’m coming unto my own on-stage. The scene went surprising well considering we never rehearsed last week.
Published on Sunday January 29, 2006 .
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Actor Auctions Himself on eBay — Winning Bid will be Donated to “World Vision”
Los Angeles, CA; January 30, 2006 — So far, eBay has seen its share of unusual auctions. Past items for sale have included “Virgin Mary in Grilled Cheese” (sold for $28,000) and Pope Benedict XVI’s former Volkswagen (sold for nearly a quarter million dollars U.S.). Both items were purchased by GoldenPalace.com, an online casino.
But if you think you’ve seen it all on eBay, you haven’t yet.
Actor David Chiu is putting himself up for auction on eBay to work on any legitimate show or production, and 100% of the auction proceeds will be donated to World Vision (www.worldvision.org). The winning bidder will have Chiu’s acting services for up to two weeks to complete its project.
“It’s a situation where I feel everyone wins,” says Chiu about his decision to auction himself. “The studio gets an actor by donating to something worthwhile. World Vision will receive much needed funds. And of course I’ll hope to show the studio the kind of talent I can offer long-term.”
A member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, Chiu has been acting for 10 years, appearing in numerous independent films and commercials and having a couple of smaller parts on General Hospital.
Clips from Chiu’s past work can be found on his blog at http://www.davidchiu.net, and his auction can be found at eBay
(www.ebay.com) by searching for “David Chiu”.
# # #
Published on Wednesday January 25, 2006 · Filed under: Acting,
Goals,
Life .
At the beginning of this year I had set a couple of goals for my acting career:
· Land a guest starring role on a prime time network tv show
· Land a supporting role in a major motion picture film
· Land a lead role in a feature length, high visibility indie film
· Get a manager who can help jump start my career
These goals seem pretty high especially since I can’t even remember the last time my agency sent me out for a theatrical audition. (ok I lie, it was last summer for a guest starring spot on Malcolm in the Middle) I’ve been really wanting to find a way to “make things happen”, to make that permanent transition from the office cubicle to the movie set. Anthony Robbins has been telling me for weeks that if I really focus and meditate on my goals I could make it happen. Just as he did with his own life in creating his motivational empire.
So for these past 2 weeks my mind has gone into over-time trying to devise ways to accomplish my goals and dreams - from becoming financially independent, to becoming that award winning actor I see in my mind. And I have come up with a few crazy ideas that just might work.
One of them is happening right now.
I decided to put myself on eBay and auction my acting skills to the highest bidder who would put me in a TV show or feature film. To up the ante I decided to donate the proceeds of the auction to charity. Crazy huh? I intended to just post the listing and leave it to “fate” to see if anything happened, but I started getting a lot of positive feedback from friends and family. They said I needed to get this in the press. So I started tweaking the listing and doing guerrilla PR by sending the link to various blogs and news sites. I started getting more hits and H urged me to send out a press release. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to spend $500+ on an official press release and distribution but then I found www.prfactory.org who would write and distribute my press release for $179. So that’s where it’s at now. An official press release is being drafted and will be sent out in a couple of days. Steve McCardell, the man behind PR Factory even mentioned how much he liked the idea.
So maybe I have something here? The chance to score an additional 15min of fame which if used properly, could jump start my career? I dunno. At the moment I have 198 hits on my ebay page but 0 bids. It’s a chance. But that’s all I need.
Published on Wednesday January 25, 2006 .
UPDATE: I now have an official press release that I will be sending through the newswire and to different media outlets. The bad news is that PRWeb has rejected the press release stating that they no longer publish stories dealing with ebay auctions. I think this is a load of BS because if you search the PRWeb site for recent press releases concerning Ebay, it will turn up several articles within the last few days. In the meantime, I will be submitting the news release through eworldwire.com.
At the beginning of this year I had set a couple of goals for my acting career:
· Land a guest starring role on a prime time network tv show
· Land a supporting role in a major motion picture film
· Land a lead role in a feature length, high visibility indie film
· Get a manager who can help jump start my career
These goals seem pretty high especially since I can’t even remember the last time my agency sent me out for a theatrical audition. (ok I lie, it was last summer for a guest starring spot on Malcolm in the Middle) I’ve been really wanting to find a way to “make things happen”, to make that permanent transition from the office cubicle to the movie set. Anthony Robbins has been telling me for weeks that if I really focus and meditate on my goals I could make it happen. Just as he did with his own life in creating his motivational empire.
So for these past 2 weeks my mind has gone into over-time trying to devise ways to accomplish my goals and dreams - from becoming financially independent, to becoming that award winning actor I see in my mind. And I have come up with a few crazy ideas that just might work.
One of them is happening right now.
I decided to put myself on eBay and auction my acting skills to the highest bidder who would put me in a TV show or feature film. To up the ante I decided to donate the proceeds of the auction to charity. Crazy huh? I intended to just post the listing and leave it to “fate” to see if anything happened, but I started getting a lot of positive feedback from friends and family. They said I needed to get this in the press. So I started tweaking the listing and doing guerrilla PR by sending the link to various blogs and news sites. I started getting more hits and H urged me to send out a press release. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to spend $500+ on an official press release and distribution but then I found www.prfactory.org who would write and distribute my press release for $179. So that’s where it’s at now. An official press release is being drafted and will be sent out in a couple of days. Steve McCardell, the man behind PR Factory even mentioned how much he liked the idea.
So maybe I have something here? The chance to score an additional 15min of fame which if used properly, could jump start my career? It’s a chance. But that’s all I need.
Published on Monday January 23, 2006 .
I had a breakthrough in class on Sunday. I was on stage and I felt no pressure to “perform” I just played the scene moment by moment. I felt more relaxed and natural than I have in a long time. I think it helped that before class Lisa told us that we should never try to please a casting director, teacher, etc. She said “F*ck them”. Do it for yourself, not to please anyone else. Do the work because you love it, because this work is your art.
Of course we still have some work to do on the scene. But I feel really good about the progress we’ve made. I’ve also really come to appreciate the brilliance of the play - DOUBT. I feel lucky that I was assigned such a great piece of work. Lisa has artistic reasons why certain pieces are assigned to actors - she is trying to mold us all, stretch us and help us grow artistically. I don’t know what specific reason I was given this play but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to really work on it.
On another note, I had this crazy idea and posted myself on Ebay…
Published on Monday January 23, 2006 .
I had a breakthrough in class on Sunday. I was on stage and I felt no pressure to “perform” I just played the scene moment by moment. I felt more relaxed and natural than I have in a long time. I think it helped that before class Lisa told us that we should never try to please a casting director, teacher, etc. She said “F*ck them”. Do it for yourself, not to please anyone else. Do the work because you love it, because this work is your art.
Of course we still have some work to do on the scene. But I feel really good about the progress we’ve made. I’ve also really come to appreicate the brilliance of the play - DOUBT. I feel lucky that I was assigned such a great piece of work. Lisa has artistic reasons why certain pieces are assigned to actors - she is trying to mold us all, stretch us and help us grow artistically. I don’t know what specific reason I was given this play but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to really work on it.
On another note, I had this crazy idea and posted myself on Ebay…
Published on Wednesday January 18, 2006 .
I’m feeling overwhelmed at the moment. I’ve spent the last few days working non-stop on freelance projects which I still need to complete - plus there might be more freelance projects coming up. I am very thankful for the abundance of work that is available to me, but I’m started to feel stifled as an actor. I try to balance it by listening to motivational audio programs on confidence and achieving your dreams. I debate on whether or not I should stop doing freelance altogether. It’s good money but it leaves me with less time to fully dedicate my attention to acting. The caveat is that I need the freelance to pay debt and keep up with our bills. But I have this idea…
I’ve started journaling on paper again as a way to write down thoughts quickly at any time and also minimize the chance of being distracted by email or the internet. Seems to be working pretty good.
I’m still hitting the gym pretty hard. I’m finding I stil have great motivation to transform my body. I’m lifting heavier and heavier every week. Steady progress. It feels great. I’m noticing more definition around my upper chest and shoulder area where there is less bodyfat. I’ve also canceled my garage parking pass for work to force me to walk 15min into work in the morning. I’m also walking for an hour during lunch around the airport. It’s a nice walk and it helps burn extra calories.
I called an psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety disorders last week. I started debating on whether I should get professional help to treat my stage fright and self esteem issues. Turns out that therapy is way too expensive at the moment. Instead I’ve told myself that I can beat this psychological hang-up just like John Nash overcame schizophrenia. I actually started using a psychological method of self-talk and actually speaking to myself addressing my inner critic and negative thoughts which hold me back. I’ve been talking to myself during my walks at lunch. It feels a little crazy at first but then I realize that when I use my bluetooth headset it looks like I’m talking to myself anyway so what’s the difference.
On Sunday my scene in acting class went 100% better. No sweating this time - although it was freezing in Santa Monica on Sunday. Overall the critque was that we needed more practice and work more on developing our “actions” and relationship.
Published on Wednesday January 18, 2006 .
I’m feeling overwhelmed at the moment. I’ve spent the last few days working non-stop on freelance projects which I still need to complete - plus there might be more freelance projects coming up. I am very thankful for the abundance of work that is available to me, but I’m started to feel stifled as an actor. I try to balance it by listening to motivational audio programs on confidence and achieving your dreams. I debate on whether or not I should stop doing freelance altogether. It’s good money but it leaves me with less time to fully dedicate my attention to acting. The caveat is that I need the freelance to pay debt and keep up with our bills. But I have this idea…
I’ve started journaling on paper again as a way to write down thoughts quickly at any time and also minimize the chance of being distracted by email or the internet. Seems to be working pretty good.
I’m still hitting the gym pretty hard. I’m finding I stil have great motivation to transform my body. I’m lifting heavier and heavier every week. Steady progress. It feels great. I’m noticing more definition around my upper chest and shoulder area where there is less bodyfat. I’ve also canceled my garage parking pass for work to force me to walk 15min into work in the morning. I’m also walking for an hour during lunch around the airport. It’s a nice walk and it helps burn extra calories.
I called an psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety disorders last week. I started debating on whether I should get professional help to treat my stage fright and self esteem issues. Turns out that therapy is way too expensive at the moment. Instead I’ve told myself that I can beat this psychological hang-up just like John Nash overcame schizophrenia. I actually started using a psychological method of self-talk and actually speaking to myself addressing my inner critic and negative thoughts which hold me back. I’ve been talking to myself during my walks at lunch. It feels a little crazy at first but then I realize that when I use my bluetooth headset it looks like I’m talking to myself anyway so what’s the difference.
On Sunday my scene in acting class went 100% better. No sweating this time - although it was freezing in Santa Monica on Sunday. Overall the critque was that we needed more practice and work more on developing our “actions” and relationship.
Published on Sunday January 8, 2006 .
After three hours of rehearsal today and days of trying to do a Bronx accent for the play DOUBT, the culmination was me having a meltdown on stage with sweat dripping off my face. I tried to work past my anxiety but it was too late. I had to stop the scene. I felt like I had failed. I had spent two months working on self confidence and tonight served as a little test to see how much confidence I had gained. None. Although I did feel more confident just being myself on stage during my critique. The anxiety arose from several things: the fact I was trying a heavy Bronx accent which I knew needed a lot of work, the fact that I didn’t do all of the steps to prepare the scene like I have been taught in the two year program, the fact that my teacher from my second year taught tonight, the fact that the scene felt awkward from the moment I opened my mouth on stage. It all contributed to my self doubt and anxiety. As my wife told me tonight, I need to have the confidence and charm on-stage that I do when I go for job interviews. I don’t put much into job interviews since to me it’s “just a job” which I can easily get anywhere else. I’m relaxed, at ease, confident (on the verge of being cocky) and very sure of myself. I don’t worry what the interviewers think of me. That’s how I need to be on stage. Tom said tonight that people like Russel Crowe are stars because they ooze confidence. They believe in themselves and the characters they are playing and they don’t care what other people think. They just are. So I still need to learn to be onstage and just “be”.
